Animals' adaptations to their environments probably reflect the variations found in their habitats. Some environments show a great amount of variation in their ecological conditions and hence resident species may correspondingly display intraspecific diversity in behavior. Behavioral flexibility can therefore be regarded as an important component for dealing with changes in local environmental conditions. The purpose of the present proposal is to study the effect of resource productivity on the intraspecific variation in the reproductive behavior of a common but little-studied waterbird, the American coot (Fulica americana) breeding on marsh lakes in eastern Washington. Various aspects of coot breeding behavior will be investigated to determine the relationship between habitat quality and reproductive strategies, such as parental care patterns. We shall focus on two components of their reproductive behavior: offspring quality and incubation patterns. In addition to exploring the natural association between ecology and behavior, we will experimentally encrease habitat quality to test for changes in the subsequent parental behaviors. It is important to investigate the subtle, but nonetheless distinct variations in behavior among individuals of the same species. Slight differences in environmental conditions can have profound effects on the ways an animal partitions its time and energy among different behavior. These animal models may also help us understand how humans interact with their local ecological conditions. Humans are well known for their wide range of behavior patterns; understanding ecology's effect on the diversity of behavior in lower animals may help us to grasp how humans are affected by their environment. In these times of rapidly changing habitats it may be wise for us to gain more knowledge of our environment's potential effect on our behavior.